| 释义 |
▪ I. length, n.|lɛŋθ|
Forms: 1 lengþ, lengþo, 3–7 lengthe, 4 leinth, lenkith, leynthe, lingþe, lyngþe, lynt(h, 4–5 lenkþe, 4, 6 linth, 4–6 lenght, lenthe, 4–8 lenth, 5 laynth, lennthe, 5–6 lenketh, 4– length.
[OE. lęngðu fem. = Du. lengte, ON. lengd (Da. længde, Sw. längd):—OTeut. *laŋgiþâ, noun of quality f. *laŋgo- long a. Cf. lengh.]
I. Quality of being long.
1. a. The linear magnitude of any thing as measured from end to end; the greatest of the three dimensions of a body or figure; longitudinal extent.
1154O.E. Chron. an. 1122 (Laud MS.) Hi sæᵹon on norð east fir micel & brad wið þone eorðe & weax on lengþe. c1275Lay. 21993 Hit his on lengþe four and twenti mundes. a1300Cursor M. 8244 A-boute þat tre, A siluer cercle son naild he..to..knau þe wax o gret and length [other MSS. lenght, lenthe]. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 210 Þe hede of an elnȝerde þe large lenkþe hade. a1400Octouian 407 The Frensch seyd he was of heghth Ten foot of length. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) ii. 6 Þe crosse..was of lenth viii. cubits. 1434E.E. Wills (1882) 101 Another bordcloth..in lenkethe ij ȝerdes, & on halfe large. 1526Tindale Rev. xxi. 16 The lenght and the breth, and the heyght off hit, were equall. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 25, I gather the lengthe of a degree to be the .360. parte of the heaven. 1570Billingsley Euclid i. Def. ii. 2 A line..is conceaued to be drawne in length onely. 1653Walton Angler viii. 162 The Carp..will grow to a very great bigness and length. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 893 A dark Illimitable Ocean..With⁓out dimension, where length, breadth, and highth, And time and place are lost. 1774M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 11 Taking the Length of XY from a Scale of equal Parts, set it off from X to Y. 1777Priestley Philos. Necess. 177 The most exalted piece of matter possible must have length, breadth, and thickness. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 117 The full length of the rope between us.
†b. in length and (in) breadth (or brede), length and breadth, etc.: throughout the whole area (of a country), in all parts or directions.
a1250Owl & Night. 174 Ich habbe on brede and ek on lengþe Castel god on mine rise. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 38/138 Ne scholde no man so euene a þrovȝ in lengþe and in brede. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7911 Þat folc..robbede Wircestressire In lengþe & in brede. a1300Cursor M. 2130 Þe folk..fild þe werld o lenth and brede. Ibid. 5027 Lauerd..þat..taght adam on lenth and wide. 13..Sir Beues 537 (MS. A) A fairer child neuer i ne siȝ, Neiþer a lingþe ne on brade. c1350Will. Palerne 3055 Deliver þi londes aȝen in lengþe & in brede. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 196 He hedde beo lord of that lond in lenkthe and in brede. [1377Ibid. B. iii. 202 A lengthe and a brede.] c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xiii. (Marcus) 50 Of al þis world, lynth & bred. a1400Octouian 548 Ten schypmen to londe yede To se the yle yn lengthe and brede. c1470Henry Wallace v. 20 About the park thai set on breid and lenth..All likly men. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxii. 65 Unto the crose of breid and lenth, To gar his lymmis langar wax. 1535Coverdale Gen. xiii. 17 Arise, and go thorow the londe, in the length and bredth [1611 in the length of it, and in the breadth of it].
c. Phrases. to find, get, know the length of (a person's) foot: see foot n. 26 c. the length of one's nose, tether: see nose, tether.
d. with a and pl. An instance of this.
1709Berkeley Th. Vision §61 Inches, feet, &c. are settled, stated lengths. 1838Penny Cycl. XI. 153/1 Given, the area of a parallelogram, and the ratio of its sides; required, the lengths of those sides. 1853Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 229 Three lengths are given in the above table, for each mean girth.
2. a. Extent from beginning to end, e.g. of a period of time, a series or enumeration, a word, a speech or composition. † in length of time: in course of time.
a1240Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 261 Þe imeane blisse is seouenfald lengðe of lif. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 425 Þe lenþe of Noe lyf. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 444 To.. leden þerinne our lif þe lengþe of our daies. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxvi. (Nycholas) 882 God hym lent lynt & space hyme to repent. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxxxii. 519 The lenght of the siege. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 363 The equinoctiall is, when the daie and night is both of one length. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 273 In length of Time produce the lab'ring Yoke. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 31/1 The Stone has in length of time closed up the Mouth of the Valley. 1860Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 34 A stay of any length there would not suit me at all. Mod. The chapters of the book are very unequal in length.
b. An instance of this; a period or duration of time, esp. a long period.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 717 After such a length of rowling Years. ― æneid xii. 1280 She drew a length of sighs [L. multa gemens]. 1786A. Gib Sacr. Contempl. i. iv. 52 There are consistent delays of it for various lengths of time. 1824–8Landor Imag. Conv. Ser. i. Wks. 1846 I. 4 How delightful it is to see a friend after a length of absence. 1838J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1839) IV. xx. 348 He had to bear a length of years in loneliness. 1877L. Morris Epic Hades i. 8 The weary lengths of Time.
c. Bridge. Four or more cards of the same suit held in a Bridge hand.
1927M. C. Work Contract Bridge iii. 43 The game-goer may be bid with a blank suit or a worthless singleton if the trump length be satisfactory. 1930E. Culbertson Contract Bridge Blue Bk. xxii. 285 To build up, if possible, a great minor suit length in the strong hand. 1948― Contract Bridge for Everyone (1949) 77 When your principal length or strength is in the suit your opponent has bid, do not overcall. 1958Listener 2 Oct. 541/1 West, from the bidding, is probably aware of his [sc. North's] great Club length. 1973Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 20 May 90/2 It is easy to enter for East holding length in diamonds by playing the Ace and the Queen.
3. a. The quality or fact of being long; opposed to shortness. † of length: long.
1388Wyclif Ps. xci. 16, I schal fille hym with the lengthe of daies [Coverdale & 1611 long(e life]. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iv. i. 11 Is not my arme of length, That reacheth from the restfull English Court As farre as Callis. 1606― Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 136 To end a tale of length. 1611Bible Job xii. 12 With the ancient is wisedome, and in length of dayes, vnderstanding. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 139 Such Customes have their force, onely from Length of Time. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 778 Peace would have crownd With length of happy days the race of man. 1762Ld. Kames Elem. Crit. (1774) II. 164 Secondly, the length of an Hexameter line hath a majestic air. 1805Wordsw. Waggoner ii. 146 ‘A bowl, a bowl of double measure’, Cries Benjamin, ‘a draught of length!’ Mod. The length of the journey was the chief objection to it.
b. Prolixity, lengthiness. Now rare.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. i. 94 Come, come, in wooing Sorrow let's be briefe, Since wedding it, there is such length in Griefe. 1606― Ant. & Cl. iv. xiv. 46, I will o're-take thee Cleopatra, and Weepe for my pardon. So it must be, for now All length is Torture. 1781Cowper Conversat. 87 The clash of arguments and jar of words..Decide no question with their tedious length. 1791Burke Let. Member Nat. Assembly Wks. VI. 67 Excuse my length. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 456 There is no reason why brevity should be preferred to length.
4. a. A distance equal to the length of something specified or implied. at arm's length: see arm n.1 2 b. cable('s) length: see cable n. 2 c.
1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxvi. 71 A litel hows whiche hath in euery side skars a mannes lengthe. 1474Waterford Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 311 Within the laynth of a myle unto the citie. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 223 Nott two payre of boot lenthis distant frome the toune. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. i. 88 He tooke me by the wrist, and held me hard; Then goes he to the length of all his arme. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. xii. §89 When they come within little more than a horse-length. 1686J. Dunton Lett. fr. New-Eng. (1867) 31 We could scarce see the Ship's length before us. 1717tr. Frezier's Voy. 261 Adorn'd with Porticos of Timber Work, the Length of the Building. 1722De Foe Plague (1840) 19, I might..have gone the Length of a..Street. 1843Macaulay Lays Anc. Rome, Horatius xli, Six spears lengths from the entrance Halted that deep array. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxxi. 241 They had got the mustang some fifty lengths of himself out on the prairie. 1885Sir C. P. Butt in Law Times Rep. LIII. 61/1 The look-out..saw..at a distance of two ship's lengths, a red light on board the smack.
b. one's length: the extent of one's body or form from head to foot or end to end.
a1586Sidney Arcadia ii. (1590) 118 b, Laying all her faire length vnder one of the trees. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 429 Faintnesse constraineth me, To measure out my length on this cold bed. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 357 A needless Alexandrine ends the song That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. 1784Cowper Task vi. 74 The roof, though moveable through all its length As the wind sways it, has yet well sufficed. 1821Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. 567 The serpent that would clasp her with his length. 1847Tennyson Princess v. 56 All her fair length upon the ground she lay. 1870Ramsay Remin. iv. (ed. 18) 81, I fell all my length.
c. Sport. The measure of a boat, a horse, etc., engaged in a race, taken as a unit in measuring the amount by which the race is won.
1664Butler Hud. ii. iii. 1190 Left danger, fears, and foes, behind, And beat, at least three lengths, the wind. 1700Dryden Cinyras & Myr. 381 Time glides along with undiscover'd haste, The Future but a Length behind the past. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 186 This was a most excellent race, and only won by a length. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales II. 116 Owen..was some lengths behind in the last hundred yards. 1887O. W. Holmes 100 Days Europe i. 52 One [horse] slides by the other, half a length, a length, a length and a half. 1894Times 19 Mar. 12/2 The Oxford crew won by three and a half lengths.
d. Swimming. The length of the swimming-bath taken as a measure of distance swum. Also attrib.
1912F. Sachs Compl. Swimmer 237 They..arrange their races to suit the baths, and their handicaps..are measured by its length, i.e. ‘3 lengths (90 yards) handicap’. 1931G. H. Corsan Diving & Swimming Bk. viii. 74 Have the fastest swimmers swim a three lengths race. Ibid., Finish with relay races of two lengths. 1972B. Turner Solden's Women xvii. 154 I'm not such a good swimmer as Patricia was. Three lengths at the baths is about my limit.
5. a. With a demonstrative or other defining word: Distance. the length of: as far as. Now Sc.
c1450Merlin 161 Ye myght here the strokes half a myle of length. a1550Mery Jest Mylner of Abyngton 77 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 103 The mylners house is nere, Not the length of a lande. 1578Hunnis in Par. Dainty Devices 2 They be the lines that lead the length, How farre my race is for to runne. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. viii. §90 He [Essex] had marched to the length of Exciter. 1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2251/4 Which we had scarce done when the other three Ships had got our length. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 73 We had found it very cold, before we came this length, but now we began to feel the extreme of it. 1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) IV. 1198 When you get that length, you are very carefully..to explore, such rivers..as may appear to be of considerable extent. 1870Ramsay Remin. v. (ed. 18) 111 The loan of a horse ‘the length’ of Highgate. 1886T. L. Kington-Oliphant New English I. 295 In Scotland they say, ‘I will come your length’.
fig.1753Scots Mag. Jan. 8/2 That [treaty] never came any great length. 1837Carlyle Let. 28 Aug. in Atlantic Monthly (1898) LXXXII. 305/1 You do not say that the disorder has got that length with you.
b. fig. in advb. phrases: The distance or extent to which one ‘goes’ (in a line of action, opinion, etc.); the degree of extremity to which something is ‘carried’. Chiefly, to go (to) the length of, to go a (great, etc.) length, to go (all, etc.) lengths.
1697Collier Immor. Stage i. (1730) 6 The Royal Leonora..runs a Strange Length in the History of Love. 1718Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell iii. lxvi. 351 Others who could not..go their lengths. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. x. (1840) 224 They had not come to that length. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xviii. viii, I think you went lengths indeed. 1779Hume in H. Calderwood Hume (1898) iii. 30 Your spirit of Controversy..carries you strange lengths. 1792Washington Let. Writ. 1891 XII. 177 When matters get to such lengths, the natural inference is, that both sides have strained the cords beyond their bearing. 1844Disraeli Coningsby vii. iv, He would go..any lengths for his party. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. v. vi. (1872) II. 104 The cunningest of men, able to lie to all lengths. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 404 They do not go the length of denying the pre-existence of ideas.
†6. The extent of space within which it is possible to touch or act upon something; reach. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 6573 Er he be led out of lenght, & lost of your sight. 1608Shakes. Per. i. i. 168 If I can get him within my Pistol's length. 1628Digby Voy. Medit. (1868) 60 They could not open my shippes till they were within halfe the length of our ordinaunce.
7. Archery. The distance to which an arrow must be shot in order to hit the mark.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 106 Phi. Howe manye thynges are required to make a man euer more hyt the marke? Tox. Twoo. Phi. Whiche twoo? Tox. Shotinge streyght and kepynge of a lengthe. Ibid. 150 The greatest enemy of shootyng is the wynde and the wether, wherby true kepyng a lengthe is chefely hindred. 1801T. Roberts Eng. Bowman 290 Length, the distance shot.
8. Pros. Quantity (of a sound or syllable). Also, long quantity (opposed to shortness).
1762Ld. Kames Elem. Crit. (1774) II. 10 The emotion raised by the length or shortness, the roughness or smoothness, of the sound. Ibid. 103 The different lengths of syllables, i.e. the difference of time taken in pronouncing. 1884A. Gosset Fr. Prosody i. 1 Some theorists forbid rhymes between syllables, whose difference of length is marked by a circumflex accent.
b. length-mark, a phonetic symbol used to indicate the relative length of a vowel sound.
1926Armstrong & Ward Handbk. Eng. Intonation p. vii, Length marks (: long and half-long) are used to indicate length only and not difference in vowel quality. 1932D. Jones Outl. Eng. Phonetics (ed. 3) 65 The letter i without the length-mark stands for the members of the English i-phoneme used when the sound is relatively short. 1965English Studies XLVI. 359 No allophonic length-marks are used.
†9. = longitude. Obs.
1581W. Stafford Exam. Compl. i. (1876) 24 Without knowledge of the latitude of the place by the Poale, and the length, by other starres.
10. a. Cricket. The proper distance for pitching a ball in bowling; that distance which constitutes a good pitch. Also = length ball. Hence length bowler.
1776in C. C. Clarke Nyren's Cricketer's Guide (1888) 14 Ye bowlers..measure each step, and be sure pitch a length. 1833C. C. Clarke ibid. 4 How to stop a ball dropped rather short of a length. 1850‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. 41 Good lengths depend entirely on the pace. 1897Daily News 18 June 2/6 Such a good length did the bowlers keep that during the first half-hour only 20 runs were made. 1910Blackw. Mag. Jan. 91/1 Only at the last gasp was any serious effort made to knock him off his length. 1937Daily Herald 5 Jan. 14/1 [Verity] The best length bowler in England. 1956N. Cardus Close of Play 176 The old⁓fashioned ‘length’ bowlers, ball after ball on the same spot. 1958D. Bradman Art of Cricket 97/1, I prefer to think in terms of a ‘good length ball’ and to define it thus—‘The type of delivery which has the striker in two minds as to whether he should play forward or back.’ 1969Listener 1 May 622/3 At first Powell hit the ball all around the field and, just as it looked as if Miller might be finding his length, the item ended.
b. In racket games: the quality of making shots which pitch well back in the court and deny the opponent an easy return; the placing of a shot in this way; the ‘form’ required to make such shots consistently.
1924G. W. Hillyard 40 Yrs. Lawn Tennis viii. 136 He..went on hitting..until he did get his ‘length’, and then it was..a case of woe betide the other man. 1930Morning Post 19 July 14/6 The Italian's fine mixture of pace and length was pitted against Lott's youth, power, and cunning. 1948S. Noel More about Squash Rackets i. 24 Angles, drop-shots..and reverse angles are all the stock-in-trade of the professional, in addition to a sound length game. 1961J. H. Giles Squash Rackets viii. 41 It [sc. the lob shot] can also be used as an attacking shot, providing as it does a complete change of pace and flight from the orthodox drive and length shots. 1964R. Laver How to play Winning Tennis vii. 57 You can get good length with the topspin I use. 1966Observer 8 May 19/5 She was quick to switch from her steady baseline game into a counter attack whenever Miss Niessen lost her length.
II. Concrete senses.
11. a. A long stretch or extent.
1595Shakes. John i. i. 105 Large lengths of seas and shores Betweene my father, and my mother lay. c1600― Sonn. xliv, To leape large lengths of miles. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 415 That length of Region, and large Tract of Ground. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 222 From the bounded level of our mind Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind. 1715–20― Iliad ii. 649 Down their broad shoulders falls a length of hair. 1784Cowper Task i. 252 Not distant far, a length of colonnade Invites us. Ibid. iv. 355 He brandishes his pliant length of whip. 1847Tennyson Princess i. 3 With lengths of yellow ringlet, like a girl.
b. A piece of a certain or distinct length, esp. one cut off or separable from a larger piece.
1645Rec. Dedham, Mass. (1892) III. 112 Samll Milles hath libertie to cut 400 lengthes of hoopes poles on the common. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing ii. ⁋2 The Compositer may cut them into such Lengths as his Work requires. 1703― Mech. Exerc. 247 Line Pins of Iron, with a length of Line on them about sixty feet in length. 1832H. Martineau Hill & Valley iii. 37 Cut into lengths like twigs. 1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 328 The structure is in separate lengths, each having an independent spring.
c. slang. A penis; sexual intercourse; so to slip (someone) a length: (of a man) to have sexual intercourse with.
1949Partridge Dict. Slang Add. 1173/2 Slip (her) a length, to coït with (a woman). 1952C. MacInnes June in Spring vi. 156 ‘Is it hard to get a job on board a ship without experience?’ ‘Not if you work for nix and don't mind the stokers slipping you a length.’ 1968H. C. Rae Few Small Bones iii. viii. 216 Beefy, randy-arsed wives crying out for a length. 1970C. Wood Terrible Hard v. 58 Come on, Suggy, you're 'is batman, 'e's never slipped you a crafty length 'as 'e?
12. Theatr. slang. A portion of an actor's part, consisting of forty-two lines.
1736Fielding Pasquin i. Wks. 1882 X. 129, I have a part in both too; I wish any one else had them, for they are not seven lengths put together. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxiii, I've got a part of twelve lengths here, which I must be up in tomorrow night. 1865Ld. Broughton in Edin. Rev. CXXXIII. 293 Kean said [c 1815] that ‘Iago was three lengths longer than Othello’. A length is forty-two lines.
13. Brewing. (See quot. 1830.)
1742Lond. & Country Brew. i. (ed. 4) 71 It is the common Length I made for that Purpose. 1743Ibid. ii. (ed. 2) 129 In making your Length short, and then making it longer with Small-Beer. 1830M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 159 A..copper boiler,..sufficiently large to..boil each of the lengths drawn from the different mashings... By the word lengths the brewer means the quantity of wort drawn off from a certain quantity of malt.
III. Phrases.
14. at length.
a. To or in the full extent; fully, in full; without curtailment. Also at full, great, some, etc. length. † Rarely, at the length.
c1500Sc. Poem Heraldry 30 in Q. Eliz. Acad. 94 The..most populus, mortal were, wes at thebes, quhiche at linth I did write. c1530Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. 157 Whan Arthur had red wel at length these letters. 1530A. Baynton in Palsgr. Introd. 12 Whiche thyng for substantives, he declareth some thyng at the length in his thyrde boke. 1567Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 16 The Catechismus buke Declairis it at lenth. 1713Steele Englishman No. 4. 28 The Fellow talks of Rogue and Rascal at full Length. 1727Swift Let. Eng. Tongue Wks. 1755 II. i. 188 The words pronounced at length sounded faint and languid. 1827Jarman Powell's Devises (ed. 3) II. 91 Lord Eldon, though he spoke at some length on the other question, did not advert to this. 1838Trevelyan in Life Macaulay (1876) II. vii. 33 Macaulay gives his impressions at greater length. 1882J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 138 Gardiner spoke at some length respecting the Holy Sacrament. 1886Athenæum 30 Oct. 559/3 While Australia is described at length, the development of Canada since the Peace is hardly mentioned.
b. After a long time; at or in the end; in the long run. † Also at the length.
1525Ld. Berners Froiss. (1812) II. xxiv. 64 They were all withdrawen into the castell, for they knewe well at length the towne wolde nat holde. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 1275 Euer at the length I make hym lese moche of theyr strength. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark i. 117 To come at the length to highest perfeccion. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 11 At length it brought them to a hollowe cave. 1611Bible Prov. xxix. 21 He that delicately bringeth vp his seruant from a child, shall haue him become his sonne at the length. 1631Massinger Emperor East iii. iv, This was the mark I aimed at; and I glory, At the length, you so conceive it. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 506 Of thy birth at length, Announc't by Gabriel, with the first I knew. 1753Washington Jrnl. Writ. 1889 I. 31 They..pressed for Admittance..which at Length was granted them. 1768Foote Devil on 2 Sticks iii. Wks. 1799 II. 271 Thou wilt find, at the length,..that the first will do us best service. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 210 At length she spoke, ‘O Enoch! you are wise’.
†c. (a) At a distance; (b) in an extended line; tandem-fashion; (c) of a portrait = full length 1.
c1611Chapman Iliad xv. 503 Now no more Our fight must stand at length [Gr. ἀποσταδόν], but close. 1628Digby Voy. Medit. (1868) 60, I had so fitted my selfe that gallies could not hurt mee att length. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. viii. 20 As he is good at hand, so is he good at length. 1715Lond. Gaz. No. 5384/10 Drawing any Carriage with more than five Horses at Length. 1786W. Herbert Ames' Typogr. Antiq. II. 1287 A copper-plate portrait of Chaucer, at length, with his pedigree and arms.
d. With the body fully extended, to the full extent of the body or the limbs. Now usually at (one's) full length.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 19 When they sleep they lie at length. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage, Descr. India (1864) 7 [They] pray vpon the earth, with their armes and legs at length out. 1667J. Flavel Saint Indeed (1754) 120 The..serpent..is never seen at his full length till dying. 1809Malkin Gil Blas iv. vi. ⁋4 We..discovered two men stretched at their length in the street. 1818Byron Juan i. xc, He threw Himself at length. 1887Bowen Virg. Eclog. vi. 14 Laid at his length in a cavern, Silenus slumbering sound.
†15. in length.
a. Lengthwise.
b. To the full length or extent.
c. To a long distance; for a long time. Obs.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 45 If þat a senewe were woundid in lenkþe [Add. MS. in lengþe, L. per longum]. 1580Blundevil Curing Horses Dis. lxxxvii. 37 b, The Horse will forsake his meat, and will stand stretching himselfe in length, and neuer couet to lie downe. 1581Savile Tacitus' Agric. (1612) 198 Agricola..fearing, lest he should be assailed on the front and flanckes both at one instant, displaied his army in length [L. diductis ordinibus]. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 757 Their position runneth all in length. 1609Bible (Douay) Num. ix. [x.] 5 But if the trumpeting sound in length and with a broken tune [Vulg. si autem prolixior atque concisus clangor increpuerit].
†16. on length.
a. At length, finally.
b. To a distance, away.
c. To the full extent of the body. Obs.
c893K. ælfred Oros. iii. xi. §3 On lengðe mid him he beᵹeat ealle þa eastlond. c1220Bestiary 552 Wo so listneð deueles lore, on lengðe it sal him rewen sore. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1231 My lorde & his ledez ar on lenþe faren. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 7946 Þe lyght of þe son..May fleghe fra þe est tylle þe west on lenthe. 1387–8T. Usk Test. Love ii. xiv. (Skeat) l. 99 She streight her on length and rested a while. c1400Destr. Troy 8179 Tristly may Troiell tote ouer the walle, And loke vpon lenght, er his loue come. Ibid. 13561 Fowle folowet the hert, Thurgh the londes on lenght. c1440York Myst. xxxvi. 379 Laie hym on lenthe on þis lande. c1450Bk. Curtasye 188 in Babees Bk., Fro stryf and bate draw þe on lengþe.
17. † to draw (out) in, into, at, or on length: to prolong, protract; rarely with personal obj. = to delay, prolong the stay of (obs.). Now only to draw out to a great, etc. length.
a1300Cursor M. 5806 He sal me drau wit lite and lenth [Gött. lith and lenkith, Trin. drawe forþ on lengþe]. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 9 Men cesis..to spedful pennance to begyne, bot drawis It erare in to lynth, til of his body falȝeis strinth. 1483Cath. Angl. 107/1 To Drawe on longe or on lenght, crastinare, prolongare, differre. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Ambages,—a circuite of woordes, a tale drawen in length. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xii. (Arb.) 134 A sound is drawen at length either by the infirmitie of the toung [etc.]. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 23, I speak too long, but 'tis to peize the time..and to draw it out in length, To stay you from election. 1611Bible Ps. xxxvi. 10 O continue [marg. draw out at length] thy louing kindnesse vnto them. 1611Cotgr., Alonger, to..draw out in length. a1713T. Ellwood Autobiog. (1714) 30, I Prayed often, and drew out my Prayers to a great length. 1787Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 191 They will draw their negotiations into length. 1893Temple Bar XCIX. 68 Breakfast was drawn out to a most unusual length.
IV.
18. attrib. and Comb.: length ball Cricket, a ball pitched a ‘length’ (see sense 10); † length compass, ? a ship's ‘log’ (see quot.); † length keeping Archery (see sense 7); lengthman, a man appointed to maintain a certain stretch of road or railway; (the form lengthsman in quot. 1902 is an isolated use.)
1833C. C. Clarke Nyren's Cricketer's Guide (1888) 19 The reaching in to stop a *length-ball will prevent it from rising or twisting. 1851Pycroft Cricket Field vii. 99 All balls that can be bowled are reducible to ‘length balls’ and ‘not lengths’.
1627Drummond of Hawthornden Lit. de Fabr. Machin. Militar. Wks. (1711) 235 [List of D.'s inventions] Instrumentum quoddam, quo itineris marini quantitas exacte supputatur, & longitudinis locorum differentiæ..Μηκοδείκτης, vulgo le *Length Compass appellatur.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 151 Howe muche it [the wynde] wyll alter his shoote, eyther in *lengthe kepynge, or els in streyght shotynge.
1902Times 22 Sept. 2/5 Every *lengthsman or fettler on the Government railway gets 8s. a day for eight hours' work. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §577 Lengthman,..an underman in a gang engaged on maintenance of a specific section..of permanent way. 1959New Scientist 16 Apr. 852/1 The mixed plant community was largely maintained by..the regular cutting with scythe and sickle by..the County Council ‘lengthmen’. 1968Telegraph (Brisbane) 3 June 18/1 Our legislators should modernise transport for railway lengthmen. 1970E. Anglian Daily Times 31 Aug. 4/5 In days of cheaper labour many county council roadmen known as ‘lengthmen’ were each responsible for the maintenance of a limited number of miles of road in which they took great pride and knew all the peculiarities. 1971Times 8 Apr. 15/3 An old man who lived at Spelbrook... His home was..the lengthman's cottage. 1972L. Lamb Picture Frame xviii. 157 A road (or ‘length’) man, with broom and shovel strapped to his bicycle cross-bar.
Add:[2.] d. Math. In graph theory, the number of edges in an edge sequence; also more generally, the number of components in any connected sequence.
1959Sociometry XXII. 143 The matrix M contains all these paths and also a path of length l from each point to itself. 1962O. Ore Theory of Graphs ii. 23 When S has both an initial vertex a0 and a terminal vertex an we can write S = S(a0, an) and call a0 and an the endpoints of S. We also say that S is an edge sequence of length n connecting a0 and an . 1965J. J. Rotman Theory of Groups iii. 32 α is an r-cycle. We also say that α is a cycle of length r. 1969F. Harary Graph Theory ii. 13 A walk of a graph G is an alternating sequence of points and lines..beginning and ending with points... The length of a walk..is..the number of occurrences of lines in it. 1979Proc. London Math. Soc. XXXVIII. 445 A path in a graph is to be regarded as a subgraph with a distinguished end (the initial vertex) rather than a sequence of vertices; it has at least one vertex, and no ‘repeated’ vertices. Its length is the number of edges in it. 1990Glasgow Math. Jrnl. XXXII. 267 Thus there is a series of finite length in G whose infinite factors are either cyclic or quasicyclic.
▪ II. † length, v. Obs.
[f. length n.]
1. trans. To lengthen, prolong.
a1300Cursor M. 5400 Now haue we noght ware-wit we mai Lenght our liue wit fra þis dai. Ibid. 21099 Thomas soght þat estrin thede..And tar he lenthid his sermon, Bituix-and til his passion. Ibid. 28850 Almus..it lenkithes man in life to lende. c1350Will. Palerne 4353 Lengþeþ now my lif for loue of heuene king. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 53 And beden hym drynke Hus deþ to lette and hus dayes lengthen. c1440Jacob's Well 196 Lengthe þou þe handyl of þi penauns wyth þis iiij. spanne of lengthe, þat is, of restitucyoun. a1450Story Alexander in Alexander (1886) 281 Howe might a man make other mennes liues euerlastyng whan he may not lennthe hys awne life one houre? 1513Douglas æneis ii. xi. [x.] 139 Gif goddis likit lynth my life langer space. 1530Palsgr. 606/1, I length a thyng, I make it longer, je alongis. 1610Daniel Tethys Festiv. F 3 b, When your eyes haue done their part, Thought must length it in the hart. c1614Sir W. Mure Dido & æneas ii. 472 A rod he bears, by which he..Lenthes and abridges life, as he desires. 1622J. Taylor (Water P.) Water-Cormorant Wks. (1630) iii. 5/2 Drinke was ordain'd to length mans fainting breath.
2. intr. To become longer.
c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 74 In þat tyme þe nyght lenghthys, þe days shorten. 1574Bourne Regiment for Sea Introd. (1577) C ij b, The day dooth..length and short according unto the swiftnesse and slownesse of the Sunnes declination. |